When my children were younger I was adamant about having only two-wheeled modes of transport in our house; no trikes, no big wheels, no three-wheeled scooters, no training wheels. “You’re torturing them,” the grandparents scoffed. “They...

Fifty years ago today, Jetsun Tenzin Palmo was ordained as a novice Buddhist nun by Khamtrul Rinpoche, one of the first Western women to take the vows. Forty years ago on the same date, she became the first Western woman to be fully ordained. It was...

I used to be scared to fly when I was a kid, but now takeoffs and landings are my favorite parts of a flight. I've been on many planes in the past few years, seen a lot of takeoffs and landings, and truth be told, you can't see much detail from 2,...

The body is like a compass in this age of poor navigational signals. We don’t know what to do next, though we feel that we certainly should be doing something next. Our attention and decision-making...

Until recently, I worked for a small agency, in a windowless office in Chicago's West Loop. I was allowed one hour for lunch, during which I took a walk outside whenever possible, reminding myself that the world beyond work was still there and...

Researchers at the University of Virginia found that two-thirds of men and one-quarter of women were so averse to sitting with only their thoughts for 15 minutes that they chose to administer an electric shock to themselves that they'd previously...

Jeff was convinced he’d fallen out of love with his wife, Arlene, and that nothing could salvage their twenty-six-year marriage. He wanted relief from the oppressiveness of feeling continually judged and found wanting. Arlene, for her part, was hurt...

Lately, I've been reading more and more Facebook updates and Huff Post-type articles urging people to "do what you love" and "live your dream". Considering it's an incredibly difficult economic time and the U.S. has a 6.3% unemployment rate (...

Tenzin Palmo walked into the shrine room, prostrated to the Buddha, took her seat at the teacher's table, and beamed at the 150 people gathered there. Her first words set the tone for a week of teachings: "Ani, you should not be in back. Move up."

I can remember trying to 'feel' the swampy mess of bodily sensations and emotions I felt trapped inside me. What were these squeezings in my chest and throat, this panicked gripping in my abdomen? I knew there was wisdom in the body and that if I...

1. I'm afraid I'll get nowhere and get bored.
2. I'm afraid I'll get nowhere pleasant and get upset.
3. I'm afraid that my belief that I'm basically good is a cop-out. I'm afraid that bad is real and tangible and that it's what I am. I...